The adsorption of atomic hydrogen on tellurium and formation of H 2Te

Abstract

The adsorption of hydrogen on a polycrystalline tellurium surface has been studied with temperature programmed desorption. Atomic hydrogen adsorbs on a tellurium surface and reacts to form H 2Te. Molecular hydrogen, in contrast, does not adsorb or react with tellurium at temperatures down to 80 K. When a tellurium surface which has been exposed to atomic hydrogen is heated, two desorption products are observed, H 2 and H 2Te. The H 2Te desorbs in three peaks at 130, 150, and 270 K. The H 2 desorbs in two peaks at 150 and 270 K. The desorption peaks at 270 K for both H 2 and H 2Te are unusually broad with a half-width of 80 K, and standard kinetic analysis of these peaks yields unusual desorption parameters. Overall, the adsorption of hydrogen on tellurium is similar to hydrogen adsorption on other covalent solids and differs in several respects from hydrogen adsorbed on metal surfaces.